Circles around the world: Climb inside a round boat from Vietnam at Long Island Children's Museum's newest traveling exhibit.

Think about what a basket, a ball, and a baseball bat all have in common. Each one has a circle inside. Circles are extremely familiar because they are simply everywhere, but why? Find out the answer at Long Island Children’s Museum’s newest exhibit, “Secrets of Circles,” which opened last month and runs through May 4. Explore how circles are made, how useful they are, and where they are found throughout the world.
Why are circles everywhere? What makes them the best shape for both pizza and wheels? The answers can be found among the 16 interactive exhibits that place visitors at the center of experiences rich with the math, science, engineering, and the beauty of circles. Whether you are drawing a perfect glow-in-the-dark circle at the Compass Table or building your own gear contraptions in Gear UP!, children — and adults — will uncover the properties of a simple shape with powerful applications.
“’Secrets of Circles’ is a wonderful example of what children’s museums do on a daily basis,” explains LICM President Suzanne LeBlanc. “Complex subjects like geometry and physics are introduced to young children using hands-on activities suitable to their age and interests, to spark an interest that they will carry with them as they grow.”
LeBlanc notes that the exhibit’s stay is perfectly timed to provide LICM visitors with a dynamic introduction to science and art education themes. “’Secrets of Circles’ will be in residence during our busiest school visit period, as well as two school break time frames (Presidents’ Week and spring break), providing thousands of visitors with the opportunity to add to their understanding of STEAM (science, technology, engineering arts, and math) topics.”
The exhibit comes to the museum from the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, Calif., where it originated. It replaces the first LICM-developed exhibit, “Broken, Fix It!,” which is traveling to California as part of a museum-sharing collaborative, of which LICM is one of six members nationwide.